Forced To Love | ✔

Chapter 44

Alyssa's POV

Henry shifted restlessly in his wheelchair as we made our way to Liam's room.

His room was located along the same hallway. We had to turn a corner at the end of the hallway to get to his room.

When we arrived, there were two police officers stationed at each sides of the door. They looked miserable to say the least, as if they rather be somewhere else then here.

Mr Garrett opened the door for us and I pushed Henry in slowly.

My eyes immediately landed on Liam.

The familiar wave of panic and fear engulfed me instantaneously. No matter how hard I tried to fight the unpleasant feelings away, my mind refused to listen to me and brought me back to the unpleasant events of the day in that basement. Just being the same room as him made those memories more vivid. They kept on playing over and over in my head.

"Alyssa, are you okay?", Henry had shifted over in his wheelchair to face me now with his hand clasped firmly over mine.  He gazed at me with concern and worry.

"I'm fine", I murmured feebly, as I forced myself to move closer to Liam. Henry eyed me suspiciously before he turned back in his seat. It was obvious that I was lying and he knew me all to well. I wanted to do this and there was no turning back. I was petrified of facing him again. But, I wanted to do this. It was my decision. Never would I have thought that I would come to fear the person that I trusted the most.

That was when my attention shifted to sound of Liam waking up. He groaned softly as he stirred awake.

Shit…I don’t know about this....Stop it...Don’t be a f*ucking coward, Alyssa!

I mentally chided myself and pushed Henry’s wheelchair nearer to his bed. I was shivering with trepidation from head to toe. I took small and much needed breaths to calm my erratic heartbeat.

As Liam awoke, his eyes swiftly landed on me. They immediately widened in shock. His gaze travelled from me, to Henry, to Dad and lastly settled on Mr Garrett.

I didn’t move an inch…more like I couldn’t as I stood there observing him. A part of me was afraid that he would jump up from the bed again and hurt us again…just like he did in the basement that day.

Much to my relief, I realised one of his hands was cuffed to the bed’s post. I was very much on guard and I wasn’t going to let it down. It was painful to accept that my trust for him was long gone.

Far too much to the point where I don’t know if I could ever trust him again. My heart ached to know that I truly did lose a good friend. Even though I didn't know that he was my step brother all along, he was everything I ever wanted in a friend until all hell broke loose. Well…all that glitters is not gold.

Liam sat upright in bed, staring at all of us right now. I waited for him to say something. So much as utter a word. But, nothing came out of his mouth. He just continued to stare at us like he couldn’t believe we were here in the same room as him. Henry looked back up at me with a confused look, which mirrored mine as well.

“Liam, how are you feeling now?”, my dad was the first one to break the awkward silence.

Nothing…not a word from him.

“Look, I know you are upset with us. But, we just want to talk to you. ”, Dad tried a subtle approach as he walked towards the bed.

Something unknown flashed in Liam eyes? I couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was…fear?... regret?...pain?

Liam’s body tensed in apprehension as Dad walked to his bedside and sat down on the edge of his bed.

“It’s okay, we’re not going to do anything. Just relax.”, Dad placed his hand on Liam’s shoulder. I held my breath, praying that Liam wouldn’t act aggressively.

He didn’t but what happened next made my heart clench painfully.

I watched in silence as Liam hung his head down low while his shoulders heaved up and down.

He was crying!

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. He sobbed uncontrollably, a far cry from the calm and composed Liam that I was accustomed to.

“What’s happening, Alyssa?”, Henry turned around and whispered to me discreetly.

I shrugged, clearly puzzled as he was.

What the hell was going on!!

“Liam, why are you crying?”, Dad scooted closer to him, alarmed by his sudden display of emotion.

Liam shook his head from side to side in defeat while his head still hung low. He refused to look up at Dad or any one of us for that matter.

“Come on son, speak to me…we can help you.”, Dad tried to persuade him but to no avail.

“He can’t.”, Mr Garrett intervened.

What?!

“What do you mean?”, Henry questioned.

“He can’t speak…even if you wanted to.”, he replied sternly.

“What?”, I gasped aloud.

Liam’s crying intensified at the mention of this. Without a word, Dad wrapped his arms around him. Liam didn’t hold back this time as he wept harder into Dad’s shoulder.

“Whats going on? I don’t understand…Is this some kind of joke?”, I stuttered at a loss for words.

“I wish it was, Ms Alyssa. Unfortunately, that’s not the case."

“Sir, would you care to elaborate further?”, Henry demanded.

“I believe I wouldn’t be the right person. I’ll get the doctor to come in and explain.”, Mr Garrett left the room immediately, leaving us in a state of confusion.

I guess it was too much for me. I felt it rising up my throat.

I couldn't control it anymore.

I made a mad sprint to the washroom and emptied the contents into the toilet bowl.

"Alyssa!", I hear Henry's voice from outside and know that I can't hide it from him any longer.

Hi guys!

Hope you liked this chapter. I know that this chapter is very late but I have not had the time to write at all recently.

You'll probably hate me ready :P But I understand how much you guys love this book. I will be finishing this book soon and only left with a couple of chapters.

So please bare with me and be a little patient while I complete those chapters.

As usual, if you liked this chapter, please hit that star button and share with me your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks for reading bye! :)